Once a person makes a decision to exercise regularly, he or she faces a second, arguably more difficult decision among all of the available types and brands of exercise equipment. Among the factors to be considered are user friendliness and quality of the workout provided by various apparatus. In this regard, cross-country ski machines are known to provide a very high quality aerobic workout, exercising both the arms and the legs, but such machines may, at first impression, intimidate persons who do not cross-country ski, or who have not exercised for some time, or who are not particularly coordinated. As a result, some fraction of would-be exercisers may be predisposed to select a treadmill or stair stepper simply because the exercise motions are more familiar to them. Moreover, even when such people overcome their inhibitions and try a cross-country skiing exercise apparatus, they are likely to be tentative in their approach and in turn, unnecessarily disappointed with their results. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a means for encouraging otherwise reluctant people to try cross-country ski machines and for allowing them to develop their "skiing" technique in a more reassuring and expeditious manner.